Golden
by youcanreachthestars
Summary: "But even as he feels her body rack against his, in her terrible anguish, he smiles to himself and draws his arms tighter around her. Yes. He knows what true love is." Lily/Snape, Oneshot


**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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She sobs into his shoulder, her heart breaking in the deep night. And he holds her, his arms wrapped around her, the comfort and warmth emanating from his body. She feels whole at that moment, like nothing can touch her. But still, she cries.

On and on through the night, Severus holds Lily in his arms, as they crouch in the back corner of the Great Hall, noticed by nobody. The watery light from the moon shines through the windows, casting eerie patterns of light over the floors, drowning the area around them in silken white. But they are cast in the shadows.

She loves him still, though, despite their breakup. And Severus knows he would never have a chance, not while James Potter was still around. Whilst their relationship had shattered, cracks streaking through it like a spider web, the rest of the school didn't, couldn't know, because it was the stronghold for the rest of them, they were the perfect couple that truly represented what love was. And they would meld back together into a couple before the week was out, he knows it to be true, because that was what always happened.

She tells him that what she feels for James is true love, and she couldn't believe that he had done this to her, because she loved him and he loved her, it was true love, Severus, but how could he possibly understand, because he is her best friend, but has never had a girlfriend, Severus, you don't know what true love is. But even as he feels her body rack against his, in her terrible anguish, he smiles to himself and draws his arms tighter around her. Yes. He knows what true love is.

They stay there the rest of the night, her leaning into him for comfort, and security. They are a spot of heat and life in the emptiness of the hall, joined together, talking. They keep their voices low, murmuring in the silence of their solitude. Her voice, frail, choked, like a trapped butterfly, and his a low rumble. Far off thunder. They are worlds away from everyone else. They are in their own little universe, outsiders, but together. They are best friends. But he wants more.

As the streams of light pour over the edge of the horizon, she looks up at him, with her stunning eyes, every hue of green melded together into a wild, haunting colour. And then she smiles. The reason he ever loved her in the first place. It transforms her face into pure love, in a way he can't possibly describe. And he smiles back down at her, but even she can see the immeasurable sadness hidden behind his own shining eyes.

He runs a quick hand through her hair, gently tugging on the knots. Her hair has gotten messed up through the long episodes of tears and sadness and regret, but so has her heart, and her soul, and her mind, and her entire sense of love. He only wishes he could help her with that.

The golden light, tinted with a rosy pink, spills over the edge of the Great Hall, and pours in, spreading across the floor in a shining puddle. It inches closer and closer to the pair, until it is a hair's breadth from his shoes. He stares at his feet, waiting for the light to touch them. But it quivers, hesitating, and stays. They are still in the dark.

Lily seems transfixed by the stilled light. Her eyes don't move for several minutes, then she stretches out her leg, graceful in the most mundane of movements, and lets the light touch her shoe. The corners of her eyes crinkle as she looks to him for support, acknowledgement. And all he can do is smile back at her, because he always will.

And in that loneliness of the early morning, he asks her a favour, a token of their friendship, and the possibility that one day it might be more.

Some moments are like a stained glass window. Different colours, different emotions, flickering everywhere. That's what this moment is like. Her face is unreadable, yet flashes with different feelings, voices inside her head debating, yes, no, maybe, I don't know.

Her face sets, and he can see the resolve in her beautiful eyes, and he knows what is about to happen a millisecond before it does.

She leans up towards him, and the moment is brilliant white, and their lips graze against the other's, and it is at that moment, that the light at their feet finally gets up the courage to spill over, and they are bathed in gold, and her hair is gold, and his eyes are gold, and they are golden in the early morning.

After a moment, she pulls back, and he is dazed, and wondering, and she is beautiful.

And that was all he ever needed.


End file.
